Fergal Carr Consulting Inc.
 

MAY MONTHLY ROUNDUP - Media, Tech and Innovation
 
 

Greetings!

Welcome to my monthly round up of media, technology and innovation news. While many companies are preparing for life back in the office, some have written off 2020 entirely. Twitter took things one step further by announcing that all employees would receive a work from home option forever.

Why was Giphy worth their $400MM price tag to Facebook? From Slack to Skype, every competitor’s messaging app includes Giphy. Expect competitors to face licensing fees in the future, along with a Giphy based advertising solution.

Finally, I was a guest on my good friend Heather Keltz’s Unpopular Opinions podcast this week. Each episode dives into an unusual or controversial opinion with guests. This week’s I joined to discussed the topic “Yesterday’s Startup is Killing Today’s Restaurants”. Listen here (I’m on the second portion).
 

Twitter at home forever

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey told Twitter employees last Tuesday that many of them would be allowed to work from home in perpetuity. Not only is this move great PR, it will also be a good recruiting tool for the future.

  • Google and Facebook are also allowing their employees work-from-home options in the post-lockdown world.

  • Many other Media companies are taking an approach to slowly reopening their offices. The New York Times messaged their staff this month to expect September for the office reopening date.

 

Some Good News, or not for viewers?

This week, it was announced that John Krasinski’s “Some Good News” web series was sold to ViacomCBS. While the viral series’ appeal to ViacomCBS is self-evident, I personally will miss the quirky appeal of John and his page shuffling.

  • In two months, the Some Good News YouTube channel has collected 2.56 million subscribers

  • Some episodes receiving as many as 17 million views

  • John Krasinski will be involved as an executive producer but will no longer be the main host

It’ll be interesting to see if the audience sticks around and chooses to pay for the DIY success story beyond YouTube.

 

Airbnb open letter to staff

Airbnb CEO Brian Cheskys sent a very transparent open letter to his staff which should be a reference for leadership in years to come. With the Covid-19 impact, he had to cut staff size by 25%. In messaging this to his staff he also provided:

  • One year free health coverage

  • Three months pay

  • A recruitment hub to help them find new jobs

  • Let all of them keep their work laptops

 

Facebook purchase Giphy for $400MM

Facebook’s latest purchase of Giphy at first seems like an overpriced data play, but it’s a hook for topical memes that are used by all competitors. “I was the sponsor of this deal, and data was not the motivation”, said Adam Mosseri the CEO of Instagram.

  • Giphy has 65 million monthly active users audience since formation in 2013

  • Giphy was just beginning to allow advertisers to sponsor GIFs and add video overlays to user-generated GIFs.

  • Facebook will have visibility and data from the GIFs people are sharing in iMessage, Snapchat, Telegram, and TikTok.

Facebook will be able to capture a lot of signals about how people are using GIFs. For a content type that says so much about the creativity, humor, and personality of users, that alone may be worth the $400 million.
 

Rest of the World Launch

Rest of the World is a nonprofit publication covering the impact of technology beyond the Western bubble.

  • My good friend and former colleague at The New York Times and Hearst, Michael Donohoe, is leading product and technology. If you know Michael as I do you will understand and appreciate the site to be very user friendly, checking all boxes you would expect to check as a reader.

  • You can view the great site and compelling articles here
 

RECENT WORK

Spotible.com - Offer publishers product and revenue opportunities covering audio, display and video. I am helping with positioning, pricing and business development connected to my network for those who could use their technology and services.

Eatcube.com - Provider focused on supporting online food ordering business with technology, marketing and e-commerce. This is a great product in a tough market and challenging climate. If your favorite neighborhood restaurant would benefit from no-commission online support, full back-end service, marketing and branded apps let me know!
 

JOBS IN MY NETWORK

If anyone is qualified and looking for referrals, recommendations, introductions for any of the below roles I am happy to help.

  1. The Washington Post - Head of Brand Studio

  2. The Philadelphia Inquirer - Project Editor

  3. Axios - Senior Product Manager

If you would like to have your open role(s) featured in next months newsletter, please get in touch.